Koikokoro
by SilverCat13
Summary: 500 years ago, an unjust law turned a man into a monster. When an unexpected affair raises questions about the past, the spirit detectives are in for the battle of theirs lives...but are they on the right side? OC/Hiei rated for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

IMPORTANT ANOUNCMENT:

For the sake of the time line of the actual series, the events in this story occur in place of the chapter black saga. Thank you.

* * *

Koikokoro: Part 1-Not So Shiny Armor

Hiei paused on the gnarled branch he had landed on, attempting to calm himself for the fiftieth time. His lips were curled up and over fangs in a vicious snarl, as he held a trembling hand over his abdoman. To say he was angry didn't begin touch the red he was seeing. The Jagan pulsed on his forehead as it searched in vain for the target he was desperately trying to locate and the dragon itched in his arm, swirling and growling in his mind, impatient, and anxious. The stupid ningen had purified him, thinking he was another demon attempting to kidnap her, and ran off in some unknown direction. When he had been able to move sometime later, he began his search. Flying through the forest, attempting to pinpoint her location with the Jagan, and coming up short when he realized belatedly that the pureness of her being made it impossible for the highly impure Jagan to find her. Still the eye pulsed, as if it were determined to find the source of this hindrance and destroy it. Hiei, wasn't sure the mere threat of incarceration would be enough to prevent him from killing her himself, as he fumbled angrily with the singed fabric of his cloak, the smell of the burnt flesh filling his sense.

Koenma the tiny, insufferable bastard that he was had called him into his office a few days ago. It wasn't new, and though Hiei loathed following orders, he loathed being caged in the Reikai even more. The toddler had given him the simplest of missions; search and rescue. Apparently, a ningen onna had been kidnapped by a few lower class youkai and had been dragged to the Maikai. This all seemed a moot point to the fire youkai, considering that the next piece information Koenma told him was that she had been gone for nearly forty-eight hours. There upon, Hiei had interrupted, announcing that if in the event the girl was possibly still alive which was a very, very tiny chance she was probably traumatized, or injured beyond repair, and to bring her back would only be a waste of his and everyone else s time.

Koenma the proceeded to chastise him about how the responsibilities of a spirit detective, whether he had become one willingly or not, were not to be ignored, and a few other choice, and colorful words that Hiei made a point to ignore for the sake of the toddler s life, as well as his own freedom. After the brief, but stern tongue lashing, the Reikai ruler filled Hiei in on the importance of the girl. Apparently, she was the descendent of a great and powerful priestess who had lived thousands of years ago, and though many women in her line had taken on the duty of becoming a priestess themselves, she was the first that showed any real ability in purification. This made her an important future alley to the Reikai. As it stood, she could have been Kami himself, and Hiei wouldn't have cared anymore than he did, which was in fact not at all. But beyond that, telling a youkai that object of his rescue could purify him with a single touch if she so chose, wasn't necessarily the best to win over said youkai, and get him to go along with it. Hiei voiced this in his usual sardonic way, further angering the child ruler. The demi god then proceeded to inform him that his "looking out for number one attitude", and his "I m above the world" ego were starting to grate at his nerves, and just to prove his point said that if Hiei didn t bring this girl back without a scratch on her pretty head, he would inform his father that his reform had failed, and he would be incarcerated until he turned to dust.

Hiei had scoffed at the idea, but wasn't foolish enough to think Koenma wouldn't do it. So, like an idiot, he had agreed to go after the girl. Playing the hero had never suited him, it was better to leave such self-righteousness to the team players like Yusuke, and his oaf of a friend, Kwuabara, or even the fox would have been better suited for this sort of a thing, but Koenma was always one to make things as inconvenient as possible. Was it Hiei's fault that he was the fastest of the four of them? Was if his fault that the Jagan was the quickest way to find the demon s who had taken her? Well, in retrospect, yes, it was his fault, that was beside the point. He hated save-the-day-superheroes, and now he was being forced to play one. It all boiled down to the fact that he hadn't had any desire to be here, and now he was searching madly for this woman who was not only the reason he was here against his will, but whom had also injured him in the one way that wouldn't heal by itself. The worst part of it all was that he didn't know if he wouldn't kill her when he found her.

Continuing on again, Hiei resumed searching, eyes darting to and fro, scanning the landscape for any sign of her, his body a mere blur among the branches that he was trending on. He hadn't gotten very far before he heard the tell tale scream of a ningen who had just run into a very large, and hungry youkai. With a hop, and jump, he had found her in a clearing just ahead of where he had stopped previously cornered by a bolder, and a mass flesh that was some sort of youkai that was snarling and swiping at her. His patience already gone, Hiei lashed out at the thing, reveling in how easily his sword sliced though its maroon colored flesh, spilling similar colored blood across the ground. It would have been sufficient to say that the attack he had used - a sword display consisting of over thirty five slashes- was a bit overkill for the barley C level youkai, but he was beyond restraint. Sheathing his blade, he turned his crimson eyes upon the girl who had since slid herself down the rock until she was sitting on the ground staring up at him with wide, frightened eyes.

Without thinking about the possible reprecusions, Hiei reached out and grabbed her forearm, roughly haulomg her to her feet, his foul mood only increasing as he realized she was taller than him by several inches. As he started to drag her across the clearing, attempting to get under cover of the shadows, she started to yell at him, ordering, threatening, begging and all manner of other attempts to get him to release her, all while attempting to to wriggle herself free from his bruising grip. Once inside the forest line, Hiei turned toward her, his free hand darting up to grasp her face, pulling her down to his eye level, and effectively covering her mouth all at once. The silence was lovely.

"Baka ningen onna!" he hissed "do you want more like that Oni to find you?" She shook her head quickly, or as much as she could with his hand clamped onto her face. "Then I suggest you cease your insufferable whining. I am not going to harm you, lest you prove too annoying to bare. I'm here to take you home." Her eyes promptly became the size of saucers. "Now will you be silent?"

She nodded curtly, and after a moment of deliberation over whether or not he believed her, Hiei removed himself from her entirely, and stepped back, daftly pocketing his hands. The girl clutched at her forearm where he had gripped her, rubbing it to dull the sting of forming bruises. He took the moment to access her, making sure that she was uninjured. Her clothing was tattered, but save for a few scratches she received most likely from running through the foliage of the forest, she seemed relatively unscathed. The dark-haired ningen looked just as she had in the image Koenma had shown him, not ugly, but undeniably, and unimpressivly exactly like every other human he had seen; except maybe her eyes. This caught him off guard only slightly. Her eyes, unlike many of the humans he had seen, were pale and the color of the sky on a cloudless day. It was unusual; more unusual still is that they seemed to be sparkling at him.

"Are you some kind of knight in shining armor or something?" she asked.

He raised a brow at her, the scowl never leaving his face. "Do look like one?" he asked, his voice dripping with disdain.

She shrugged, with a timid smile on her face. "I don t know, I've never seen one before."

"Hn" was his only reply.

The portal that had gotten him here was a few miles away, and it was nearly dark now. He, of course, was more than able to take care of himself in this sort of situation, but glancing back at the ningen, and her slightly sagging frame, he doubted she would last through the night. Another day life wasted on the wench, and she hadn't even apologized for purifying him. As if sensing he was thinking about it, the burnt flesh on his abdomen began to pulse with pain anew, though he gave no hint that it had.

With aggrivated growl, he half turned toward the darkness of the forest. "It would be unwise to continue until morning". He told her, his voice cold "You should make a camp, or whatever it is that you ningen do."

An hour or so later, just as the sun started to sink behind the horizon, the girl had made herself a pleasant little camping space, but was struggling to get a fire started. She had been sitting in front of the little pit she had crafted for nearly twenty minutes now, attempting to spark a fire to life with some stones she had found. Had Hiei not been enjoying watching her fail time after time, he might have told her that the rocks she was using weren't anywhere close to the kind she needed. Though it was amusing the first ten minutes, it started to grate his nerves, and by the time twenty had rolled around he was biting his tongue to keep from shouting at her. Finally, with a growl, he jumped down from the branch he had been previously occupying, landing with a light thud beside her, and lit the fire himself. She had stared at him in awe as a flame a crackled to life in his very hand, as if he had willed it to be there, and lit the pile of twigs and leaves she had in the pit.

"That was brilliant!" she murmured, her eyes shifting to look at his face.

He promptly returned to his branch without so much as a word to her.

If she was offended by the rudeness of ignoring her, she didn't let it show. Instead she settled down against the tree he was occupying, leaning against the trunk, and stretching her hands out toward the fire. All was silent for a few moments, which was perfectly fine with Hiei, before she spoke, shattering his peaceful quiet. He barely contained a groan.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly "I m sorry I hurt you."

He made no reply and silence reined for a moment, before she spoke again.

"You're a youkai aren't you?"

He didn't feel this question deserved an answer. Of course he was a youkai, would a ningen be able to produce fire as he had done? Would a ningen have been able to trek across half the damnable Maikai and killed that Oni to save her undeserving hide?

"What's your name?"

Again he was made no reply. He felt there was no reason for the onna to know such things. In the morning he would take her back the Reikai, shove her off on Koenma, and be rid of her.

"You know, I haven't met very many youkai, but they all seem to have this unifying silence issue. Why are you all so unresponsive?"

"Why are ningens so nosey and loud?" he snapped back.

She looked up at him then, a smile spreading across her lips as she finally got him to reply. He lifted a brow, but refrained from comment.

"We're just special I guess"

_'That's a word for it_,' he thought, '_though I would also use insufferable, moronic, and detestable_.'

Her voice cut through his thoughts. "My name is Kiyoko Fukutoma" she told him, as if he cared to know. "And I m very glad that you re here. I don t know how, but I knew everything would turn out ok, and because of you, it did. I thank you for that."

He could barely breathe through her suffocating optimism, but managed a low "Hn" as a reply.

With a smile still stretched across her lips, Kiyoko settled back against the tree, arms around her knees, and attempted to get some sleep, confident for some unknown reason that her rescuer would prevent any further attacks on her, should another beast happen upon them in the night.

Long after the girl had fallen asleep, and the fire had turned to embers, Hiei had sat awake in the dark, his eyes glowing like some kind of nocturnal predator. It bothered him only slightly that she was so cheerful in the face of such danger, but he brushed this off as typical ningen foolishness, though he grudgingly gave her some credit for retaining that optimism through the few days she had been there, however nauseating it was to witness.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: Ningenkai Tenshi

It is said that when the human race comes under attack, whether it be from a youkai threat, or from amongst themselves, that one among them will rise up as a light, as a savior, as a beacon of hope that they are not a lost race. They had given themselves no formal name, but over the years they had been known by many; Messiahs, Goddesses ,Divine Spirits, Angels. The purity of the one, would engulf the many, and save them from whatever chaos that befell them. It was never mentioned how this happened, but was always recorded that soon after, the being would disappear. Some believed that after threat had been ended, the being simply went back to wherever it had come from, until the next time it was called upon. Others believed they became normal human s afterward, losing their abilities, and living the rest of their mortal lives in peace. Still others believed that the use of all their life energy was require to purify their race, and that after it was done they died. It had been millennia since one had showed itself, but when any human started to show signs of the abilities these so called Tenshi possessed, the Reikai was the first to jump upon them, and guide them, for it was always the case when they did appear, that danger was not far behind them.

Koenma stared at the monitor in front of him, eyes fixed on the snoozing girl under the tree. The file the Ogre had just handed him hung loosely in his fingers, forgotten after he had read its contents, and connected the dots of the situation. It had been so long since one had appeared that he had forgotten the signs. Powerful purifying skills, unbelievable optimism, compassionate heart to all creatures (including cranky and injured fire youkai), and an array of other obvious markers that would be a tell tale sign that a certain ningen girl was just a little more that she appeared to be. The demi god had suspected that she was more than a gifted ningen, even with her family tree, but he had not expected this. There was no doubt in his mind that she was ignorant of the matter, as the subjects often were when they first appeared. Always new, always young, but always came around in time to save the day. The mere fact that this girl was a Tenshi was not what concerned him, but it was why she had appeared.

It was traditional for such a being to show itself in a time of crisis, or shortly there before, but there was nothing on the radar. Not a peep from the Maikai, other than the lower class youkai that kidnapped her in the first place. There was the usual distress in the Ningenkai but nothing out of the ordinary, and certainly nothing that would call upon such a being as she. It had been that way since the Dark Tournament had reached it s conclusion almost a month ago. It unnerved him that she was there with no obvious probable cause.

"Ogre!" he snapped suddenly, fixing the tall blue creature with a narrowed gaze. "You're sure this report is correct?"

"You're father gave it to me himelf, Sir" the Ogre replied, a serious expression crossing his face for once, for he too understood what such an accusation meant.

Koenma nodded, and returned to staring at the screen. "If this girl is what my father thinks she is, we are overdue for something really, really bad."

* * *

When Hiei heard the first signs of stirrings from below, it was close to dawn, and he slid silently from his branch, landing just in front of the still dozing girl. He pocketed his hands, opting rather to nudge her with his foot until she grunted out what he guessed to be some sort of acknowledgment that she was waking up. When she instead simply slumped over, and started dozing again, he resumed the probing with his foot, until she was batting it away, eyes half lidded, and lips pulled down in a pout.

"Wake up onna" he ordered, retrieving his foot before she could touch it with her batting hands.

"The sun isn't even up yet!" she complained, sitting up, and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"The sooner you get up, the sooner we can leave" _and the sooner I can be rid of you_ he added mentally.

This did little to motivate the tired girl, as she continued to sit on the grass covered ground, her clothing wrinkled and her black hair a mass of untidiness around her head. Hiei rolled his eyes at her unwillingness, and reached for her arm to haul her up as he had done the night before, only this time she grabbed his hand first.

"Please don't" she said, her sleepy eyes finding his face "My arms still hurts from the other time."

He felt a slight warmth on the skin she touched, like the pickling of sleeping limb, and he pulled away almost instantly. Had she been preparing to purify him again? As he watched her, he doubted that it was the case. She was drowsy, and inattentive, nearly falling over when she tried to stand. If she hadn't been attempting purification, then what had that sensation been? So preoccupied with this question, he hadn't even seen her pass him.

"Well, are we going or not?" she whined, stamping her foot lightly on the ground in her impatience. "You got me up, and now your just standing there. If you don t move, I'm going to go back to -OOF!"

The whining sound of her voice was like nails on a chalk board to his sensitive ears. Before she could finish her sentence, he had darted forward and slung her over his shoulder in an unorthodox sort of way, beginning his trek back to the portal. It was several moments later before she started up again, this time a note of hysteria in her voice. She wailed such things as 'This is completely unnecessary!' and 'I have legs for a reason!' and other such comments that didn't interest him. She had legs, but she would be slow, and he would rather return to the Reikai within the next hour, rather than several agonizing hours later, and there for carrying her was completely necessary-though he loathed every momentof it- disproving both her points in one thought.

After a while, she stopped struggling, and even stopped talking, though she would make the occasional complaint if he jostled her too much, and there was always the question of how much further? and are we there yet? both of which he pointedly ignored.

Sooner than expected, the portal's energy prickled at his senses, and within moments it came into sight, a small swirling mass of blue and white almost invisible in the similar colored sky.

"Hold on" he informed her dryly, as he positioned for a higher jump, and sprung toward the sky, vaguely aware that her entire body had tensed in his arms as they faded through the portal into the seemingly unknown.

* * *

If Botan hadn't been on call to witness it first hand, she might not have believed that he had actually gone through with it. Sure, being threatened to spend the rest of his days in the darkest depths of the dungeons of spirit world where are the scariest, most dangerous, and most powerful criminals were held, was pretty bad, but surly it was nothing compared to the chunk of pride it must have taken the fire youkai to carry the sleeping girl into the Reikai offices, bridal style. Botan chewed at the inside of her cheek, desperately trying to withhold the giggling bubbling up in her throat.

_'Ningen'_ Hiei thought bitterly '_too weak to even handle passing through a simple portal'_. He punctuated his thought by glaring holes at the girl in his arms. Purifying him, forcing him to chase her through the damn forest, being weak and slow therefore forcing him to belittle himself by carrying her, and then passing out mid jump-to-portal , throwing him off balance, and sending them careening out of control into said portal, and spilling them out at the gates of the Reikai castle rather ungracefully, AND remaining comatose forcing himto further humiliate himself by carrying her inside. At this point, he would have rather dragged her in by her hair, or simply left her at the gate for one of the ogres to find, but damned if he was going to be caged because of some ningen wench.

When he saw Botan, red faced and forcing her laughter to remain quiet, he almost lost the ebbing control on his temper. "Oh, Hiei!" she gave him a sly grin, "You big softy you, taking such righteous step to rescue the fair maid. It s almost like you're a he-"

He cut her off with an icy glare before she could say that despicable H word in referral to him. "So much as a breath in my direction while I'm here, and I will take your head back with me to the Ningenkai." He snapped.

Botan effectively zipped her lips, but followed him to Koenma's office regardless, a grin still plastered on her gleaming face. Koenma, however, was not as courteous, for upon seeing the sight of the hiyoukai with his arms full of sleeping human girl, he let loose with a long, bellowing sort of laughter that had Hiei gritting his teeth and count to ten.

1 don t drop the girl.  
2 don t kill Koenma.

3 don t drop the girl.  
4 don t kill Koenma.

After a few agonizingly slow minutes, Koenma quieted, whipping tears from his eyes. "Well now" Koenma said with a grin, crossing his arm "See? Doing good things just for the sake of doing good things isn t so bad is it?"

"Hn" Without warning, Hiei simply dumped the girl on the toddler's desk, her body thumping onto the wood in a painful sounding way.

"Be careful!" Koenma barked with just a smidgen too much panic in his voice, as he moved to make sure the girl was unharmed.

Ignoring the scrambling child, Hiei growled "You have your precious ningen wench, safe and sound, without a scratch. She's your problem now"

Botan, who had been quietly observing the scene before her, suddenly came forward with a curious light gleaming in her violet eyes. Now that Hiei was no longer carrying the girl, she saw the unsettling state of his cloak, and exposed skin below.

"Hiei?" she inquired, "Did she hurt you?"

He pinned her with flaming crimson eyes "How dare you suggest that a ningen onna could harm me!" he snapped.

Concern trumping fear, Boton continued on with only a slight hesitation. "Hiei if she touched you with that purification magic, you need to be treated right away. It won't-" But before she could finish he was out the door.

"Hiei!"

"Leave him Botan." Koenma ordered "He'll be fine." He was trying in vain to pick the still unconscious girl up by himself "Help me get her someplace that isn't my desk!"

"Right away sir!"


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3: Meeting

It had to be a fluke, was Koenma's thought as he sat at his desk, observing the girl before him attempting to demonstrate her purification powers on the ogre. Surly his father had been mistaken when he had called this girl a Tenshi. She couldn't even call for the power she needed for a simple burn.

"Koenma, sir" George whimpered, edging away from the girl's extended hand. and a look of shear terror plastered across his blue face. "Perhaps we could find someone else for her to test her powers on"

"Oh, shut up ogre" Koenma snapped "Suck it up and be a man". _Not like it's working anyway_ he added as an afterthought.

It had been almost an hour now since Kiyoko had woken up, and Koenma had given her the basic run down of her situation, as well as ask for a demonstration. He wanted to see this purification first hand, to make double sure that she could do what he had seen previously, as well as confirm his father's theory that she was a Tenshi. But so far, there was nothing, not even a spark. When she had purified Hiei, there had been an explosion of light so bright, he had had to turn away from the screen or be blinded, but nothing of the sort was happening now.

Kiyoko lowered her hand, and flopped down on the floor, crestfallen. "I'm sorry" she murmured, lowering her head, "I really am trying, but I don't know how to call it out."

With a sigh, Koenma hovered over to her, and patted her shoulder sympathetically "It's alright my girl, it isn't really so important that it happens now. I'm sure with a little focused training, we can get you able to control it"

Kiyoko smiled a small, fraziled little smile, hardly believing that she was actually here, let along that this child was a king, or that this was the spirit world, or that she was some kind of important alley or anything of the sort. She had just learned that demons were actually real, which was a shock in itself, but all of this was too much. The fact that said toddler was _hovering _mere inches from her head wasn't helping the climbing sense of hysteria that was prickling in the back of her mind.

"T-training?" She inquired, stuttering a little as the edge of the panic she was feeling slipped into her voice, making it several notes higher than usual.

Sensing her obvious distress, Koenma lowered himself to the floor in front of her, putting on a sincere looking expression. "My dear, don t worry about it for now. I''l send for some people to take you home, and look after you until we can get this sorted out. It'll give you time to process and think about my offer."

His offer.

Kiyoko thought back to when she had first woken up in this strange place.

She had panicked only slightly when she'd opened her eyes, and saw nothing but white. Her first thought had been a hospital. Maybe she had just hit her head, and all of the demons including her aloof rescuer had been a dream. But upon further inspection she found that she was not in fact in a hospital, but in a state room of sorts, assembled on a small cot. The room was a blinding white, much like that of a hospital, but there were no machines, or IVs, or windows, or anything really save for herself and the cot she occupied.

It had been moments afterward that a bubblely blue haired woman-who she later discovered was named Botan-peaked her head into the room, and asked if she was well enough to walk. She had been entirely too excited for the recently awoken Kiyoko, but was perfectly charming and polite, so she couldn't find it in herself to be upset. Botan had explained where she was, and why she was here, and when Kiyoko asked about the man who had saved her, she had explained that he had gone to heal himself from the wound he'd received.

This had led to a small argument about finding him, and making sure he was alright to which Botan informed her that Hiei wasn't one to be found when he didn't want to be, and no offence, he didn t want her to find him anyway. Kiyoko was too distracted by finally learning her rescuer's name to press the issue any further, and had allowed Botan to escort her out of the white room, and off to meet the ruler of the strange, business-like place they we in.

To say she was surprised to be introduced to a child would have been an understatement. The more he spoke to her, the more she began to convince herself that she was actually dreaming, and mid way through his speech-he was telling her about the importance of her powers-she had promptly slammed her forehead on the desk in front of her to the shock of all those present.

"Sorry" she had slurred as a tiny trickle of blood ran down the side of her nose. "Just wanted to make sure I wasn t dreaming."

After fixing her up, and being reassured that she wouldn't try anything like that again, Koenma had proceeded to ask her for her alliance. To which she had replied that she had no idea why he would want her alliance, as she wasn t anyone special.

And there she had stayed until now.

"That would be good" she said, calming slightly at the thought of going home.

"I sent Botan after them a while ago. They should be here soon." he replied pleasantly.

* * *

"I can't believe Koenma is calling me in on a Saturday!" Yusuke complained as he trudged along behind Botan, grumbling angrily all the way. "And so soon after the tournament. Can't the guy who saved the world get a litle rest in edge wise? Jeez, he's like a god damn slave driver."

"Quit your bellyaching, Urameshi!" Kuwabara snapped "If you're too weak and tired to do your job, I'll do it, and take all the fame and glory for myself."

Yusuke rolled his eyes at his friend and rival "Yeah, right. Didn't even win one of the rounds during the tournament, and you think you can handle taking down even tougher guys?"

The brawl that ensued was short lived, as Kurama joined their ranks, falling into place next to Botan in the hall.

"Botan." He inquired politely "Do you have any idea what this sudden meeting is about?"

Boton shook her head in an apologentic sort of way "Sorry Kurama, but I really don't know." But then she paused to think about it, pressing a finger to the side of her cheek in though "It might have something to do with the girl, though I couldn't imagine what about her would require all four of you.".

Kuwabara perked up at the mention of a girl. "A girl huh? Is she pretty?"

"Shuddup you horn dog. Remember Yukina?" Yusuke snapped, shoving the taller boy out of his way so he could better hear what Botan was saying. This effectly lead to another scuffle between the two.

"The girl that Hiei brought back from the Maikai?" Kurama asked.

"You know about that?" Botan sounded rather surprised by the matter, though she should have guessed that Hiei would have gone to Kurama to vent with as angry as he was.

Kurama sent her a small, sheepish smile "Hiei hasn't stopped complaining about her. Though, I don't blame him. Purification is painful, and tricky to heal."

"Woah!" Yusuke interrupted "This chick actually hurt Hiei? Is she some kind of crazy strong demon or something?"

"She's ningen" Botan said simply.

There was a pause, before both Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into hysterical laughter.

"Shrimpy was taken out by a human girl?" Kuwabara cackled

"What did she do? Hug him to death?" Yusuke bellowed, tears leaking from his eyes.

"For your information detective, she purified me"

The laughter subsided sharply as both boys looked back to see the object of their mocking standing not but a few feet from them, his aura dark, and menacing. Kuwabara continued to chuckle silently to himself, but Yusuke took on a more sober face.

"So this purifiying thing is a big deal?"

"If she had touched him much longer, he would probably be a pile of ashes" Botan chiped a bit too cheerfulling than was probably necessary.

Hiei sent her a glare that might killed most other people, but she didn't seem to notice "She's no ordinary ningen onna" he hissed finally, falling in step next to Kurama.

"Whatever, you're just saying that to make your whipping look less humiliating" Kuwabara remarked "Like I'd believe it though. You probably got distracted cause she's cute."

This had Hiei rounding on the taller boy, hand twitching over the hilt of his sword. "How dare you even suggest that I would find a filthy human female appealing" Hiei growled "Disgusting."

"Yeah sure, pip squeak" Kuwabara brushed off his comment with sly grin "Why else would someone so big and bad as you-well not big-get pumled by a human girl, huh?"

"It's not as if purification is an common human trait, Kuwabara" Kurama interjected, secing that Hiei's growing anger could be cause for blood shed. "It would have been a surprise for any of us to find that she could use such a rare power. And I'm afraid I must agree with Hiei; to possess such an amount of it, to do the damage that it did to him...this girl is no mere human"

"You might be right about that" Botan said off handedly to no one inparticular. Realizing that she had been vague, she continued further "Koenma said that one of her ansestors had been a Tenshi"

"A what?" Yusuke asked.

"A Tenshi." Kurama repeated. "Different cultures call them different things. Angels, Gods, Messiahs, Guardians, Divine Spirits. The Reikai refers to them as Tenshi. They are protectors of sorts to the human race. Completely pure, and very rare. I believe the last one was nearly five hundred years ago."

"So, is this girl one of these, Tenshi?"

"Highly unlikly" Botan said, "There's a reason that there hasn't been one in so long. They don't show up unless something really bad is happening or going to happen. I mean, one didn't show up when Toguro was around, so it's safe to say that we would notice something worse than him. Besides Koenma just wanted her safe because her powers could make her a valuable alley. Unfortunatly it turns out that she doesn t exactly know how to use them."

Hiei growled at the idea. Sure she didn't know how to use them, his bandage wrapped abdomen was proof enough that she knew more than she was probably letting on. Stupid, diseptive ningen female. Sensing Hiei s obvious disbelief, Botan clarified.

"Let me rephrase. She doesn't know how to use them at will. What happened with you, Hiei, was that she thought she was in danger, and her body simply reacted. As it stands now, the power simply follows her instincts. It seems when her body thinks she's in danger, it lashes out with the best defence it has."

Hiei scoffed at the idea, but remained silent.

"So, what your saying is" Yusuke stated "that Koenma didn't actually look into it, and see if she actually knew what the hell she was doing?" and under his breath, he added "lazy brat."

Before Botan could chastise him for insulting the ruler of the spirit world, again, the group found themselves standing before the giant double doors that led to Koenma's office.

"Try to be nice boys, she a little shaken up."

* * *

Kiyoko hadn't known what she'd been expecting, but three human boys near her age was not it. Though she was pleasantly surprised to see her rescuer, Hiei, again. A feeling that didn't seem mutal, as when she smiled and waved at him, he cast his eyes away from her, a scowl on his face. Slightly crestfallen, she lowered her hand, and regarded the others as Koenma introduced them.

Kurama was the red head on the far left, with eyes that gleamed like emeralds. Her heart gave a small flutter when he nodded his head at her in acknowledgment. Handsome didn't fit the way he looked; beautiful seemed more appropriate, much in the same way a piece of art was beautiful. But there was something about him that made her feel cold, like there was storm just below the surface of his calm demenor; dangerous and mericless.

Kuwarbara was the tall, muscled boy in the middle. He grinned at her when Koenma introduced him, giving her a small wave of acknowledgment. His appearance gave one the impression that he was nothing more than a highschool bully, but the warmth of his smile touched his eyes, and Kiyoko was instantly put at ease. Those eyes gave him away as gentle giant, and she was so very glad that her first impression had been wrong.

Yusuke was the boy in green, on the right. He was almost a puzzle, which in itself was a little exciting. His chocolate eyes glimmered in a cocky sort of way that reminded her vividly of Peter Pan. He flashed her a dashing smirk as an acknowledgment, and she was suddenly glad she was already sitting as her knees grew weak. Like Kuwabara, his eyes were warm, and she knew right away that they would get along, but he had the same sort of dangerous feeling that Kurama had, which made her think that perhaps he was not all that he appeared to be.

"And of course you remember Hiei" Koenma gestured to the shorter youkai that stood beyond Kurama, whom promptly scowled even further if it were possible.

It was an unpleasant feeling to be so disliked, and one that Kiyoko had never honestly felt, as it seemed that nearly everyone she met loved her instantly for one reason or another. Her dark haired rescuer shifted almost unformfortably under her gaze, before meeting her eyes with a glare that made the hair on the back of her neck rise. If she hadn't been so captivated by the crimson color of his eyes, flickering, and hypnotizing like the tongues of flame, she might have taken that moment to be utterly terrifed by the preditory vibes he was casting off by the bucket load.

Koenma's voice startled her out of her trance, bringing her back to reality, where she promptly found a piece of thread sticking out from a snag in her sweater far more interesting that the curious looks they three men infront of her were currently tossing her way.

"All right you four, here's the deal. Kiyoko has a knack for purification, as we have obviously seen" He gestured to Hiei, who sent him a glare in return before going to lean against the wall. "Problem is she can't control is just yet. This is a problem, because it seems without the threat of immediate bodily harm, she can't use it as protection, let alone anything else.

Kiyoko shifted uncomfortably as Koenma explained her situation, and glanced over at the four of them with a sheepish sort of expression, feeling slightly embarrassed by the admission.

"The reason I called you all here is this; the demons that kidnapped her will likely not be the last to try. Regardless of her inability to use it properly, or control it, her ability is highly disliked by youkai for obvious reasons" Again, he glanced at Hiei "In small doses it creates burns that don't heal on their own, and without th proper mecidal treatment can drain spirit energy until there's nothing left. In large amounts, it can turn a youkai into a pile of ash. This in mind, every youkai what was in the area when she used it on Hiei will probably be looking for her blood."

Kiyoko froze in a way that made her resemble a deer caught in headlights. Out for her blood? She hadn t even meant to hurt Hiei, hadn't meant for any of this to happen, didn't even want the stupid power, and now she was dealing with its repercussions; or, more like she was an inconvenience to others who were trying to deal with them. She felt sick.

"So what exactly do you want us to do? Follow her around every where she goes?" Yusuke asked, meaning it to be sarcastic.

"Precisely" Koenma replied. "I want you all to be her shadow until further notice. She is too important to be left alone."

Yusuke stared in disbelief, but to everyone's surprise it was Kurama who spoke up. "Koenma, would it not be more efficient to keep her here in the Reikai?"

"In the long run, probably, but it would be too much of a hassel to deal with panicky family and friends. Our purpose in the human world is keep the peace, not cause hysteria. With the four of you, we get the best of both worlds."

Kurama's lips twitched into a frown, but he remained silent.

"So I'll give it to you straight, boys. I don't really care how you divvy up the shifts, but I want at least one of you with her at all times."

"I could easily be there in the morning." Kurama volenteered, his expression softening when he glanced at Kiyoko. "My scores are high enough, I don't tecnically have to be in school until the afternoon."

"I guess I could look after her when Kurama leaves" Yusuke drawled "It's not like I"ve got the best track record for attendeance anyway. Looking after a cute girl instead of going to class seems like a pretty good gig." He winked at Kiyoko, who blushed a pretty shade of pink before looking away.

"I could take the night shift" Kuwarbara informed the child ruler rather proudly, but eveyone gave him a rather skeptical look.

"It would be more practical for Hiei to take the night shift" Kurama said, and before Hiei could growl out the protest that was bubbling in his throat, Koenma clapped his hands together as if to finalizing the order."

"So it's settled. Kurama will be with her through the morning, Yusuke and Kuwabara will look after her until the sun goes down, and Hiei will take the night shift."

"Fine." Yusuke drawled, shifting impaciently from on foot to the other. "Can we go now?"

Koenma turned to Kiyoko "Are you ready to go home, my dear?"

A bright, gentle smile lit up her face, and seemly the room. For a moment, all save for Hiei -who simply sneered at the display-were caught off guard by the suddenly beaming girl. She had gone from hardly noticeable, to brilliantly stunning in much the same way as the sun seems brighter after a cloud passes over it.

With one motion that seemed entirely too graceful for a human girl, she stood, and came forward, closer to the four than she had previously been.

"Home sounds wonderful" she breathed in relief.

After a moment, noticing that the others were still staring at her in silent awe, Koenma cleared his throat, catching their attention once more.

"Alright, Botan, open them up a portal that will spit them out near Kiyoko's home."

"Of course sir." Botan chirped, hopping on her ore and floating out into the hall "Follow me boys!"

Kuwabara was at Kiyoko's side in an instant, offering to escort her, to which she giggled, and took his arm with a smile, not even minding that he was a complete stranger, because she was going home. Yusuke, though he did not offer an arm, took up her other side, just as enthusiastic, asking questions, and making conversation. Before they had left the room they had her laughing.

Kurama shook his head at them, but couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips. The feeling of crackling energy in the room was unmistakably originating from the girl, whether she knew it or not, and it seemed to have a pleasant calming ability, effectivly making everyone's step bounce a little. He glanced over at Hiei, who had come forward off the wall to approach Koenma.

"Babysitting was not in our agreement, Koenma" the hiyoukai hissed, his hands clenched in the pockets of his cloak.

"I'm not asking you to be her best friend, Hiei." Koenma replied curtly, seating himself behind his desk once again. "You don't even have to interact with her, just keep watch. In fact, since you have the night shift, she'll be asleep most of the time anyway, so you won't have to deal with her. Just stay alert, and make sure nothing wonders into the area"

Before Hiei could retort, Yusuke called from the hall "Common demon boys, lets get a move on! I've got stuff to do!"

Kurama chuckled, and nudged Hiei's shoulder with his own "Come Hiei, it won't be so bad. I'll come back at night to keep the girl at bay. Wouldn't want her hugging you to death."

Kurama couldn't resist poking fun at his companion. It was all in good fun.

"Hn" Hiei turned to follow the fox out "be careful with your tone, Kurama. I'd hate for something happen to your pretty vocal cords."


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4: Calm Before the Storm.

"Holy hell" Yusuke gasped, his eyes as wide as saucers. "We have to climb all of those stairs? Why the hell didn't Botan spit us out at the top?"

Botan had disappeared only moments before hand, knowing instinctively that Yusuke would make such a complaint, and hadn't intended to stick around to hear it. It was a surprise to everyone, except Hiei , who thought that is somehow seemed appropriate, albeit very irritating, that this girl would live so near a shrine.

Kiyoko, who was still clinging to Kuwabara's arm, lost a little of her new found excitement at Yusuke s complaint. "I'm sorry" she murmured, her head turned down, and her voice soft "My grandparents maintain the shine." If the detectives hadn t known better, they could have sworn the sky darkened just a little.

"Don't even worry about it!" Kuwabara thundered reassuringly, shoving Yusuke up the stairs Urameshi s just whining. Yusuke pleasantly returned the shove, resulting in a humorous game of cat and mouse as Kuwabara went barreling after him after promising Kiyoko he would be back in two shakes of lamb s tail. Kurama effectively took up Kuwabara's place, offering her his arm which she excepted with a blush and helped her up the stairs, curious about this new girl in a way only a fox could be.

"Will they be alright?" she asked, looking worriedly back at the two boys we were now currently chasing each other in circles at the base of the stairs, Yusuke cackling, and hurling insults at his friend that made her blush, and Kuwabara shouting back at him in a jumble of words she couldn t understand.

"They ll be fine" He replied good naturedly, an amused smile playing across his lips "It's something they do all too frequently.

"Oh"

"You said that your grandparents maintained the shrine?" Kurama asked, attempting to keep the conversation flowing. "Do your parents live here also?"

Kiyoko shook her head with a sad sort of smile playing across her face. "No, it s just me and my grandparents" she replied.

Sensing that it was an uncomfortable subject for her, Kurama backed off. "It's certainly" beautiful He commented, and meant it. The flowers that lined each side of the stairs were stunning, and if he were completely honest rivaled his own creations in their beauty and health.

"My grandmother sings to them every morning. Somechant that suppose to be magical" she explained, sounding unconvinced. "I think its a bit silly, getting up so early everyday to sing to things that don't have ears but it I've never seen one so much as wilt"

Kurama smiled at this. He had no doubt that her grandmother did as she said every morning, and there were studies that music kept plants growing very healthy and strong, but he had his doubts that this was the case with these particular flowers. It seemed that they were reacted to Kiyoko aura, just as people did. Intriguing. As he glanced around he noted that much of flora was just as healthy. The trees were tall and strong, the grass a vibrant green, even the few weeds that grew among it all looked unusually healthy. Kurama chanced a sideways glance at Kiyoko, noticing how she was searching around, most likely for Hiei, who had vanished the moment a shrine had been mentioned.

"He's still here" Kiyoko jumped just slightly, having been caught up in searching for the shorter boy for that past few moments, certain that he had been just behind Kurama when they had started up the stairs. "You can t see him, but he s near."

Kiyoko continued to glance around "Where did he go?"

Kurama waved a hand around "Its impossible to tell. Hiei is very good at masking his energy. It makes it very difficult to find him when-"

"When he doesn't want to be found." Kiyoko finished for him, a small sigh escaping her. "You know, I've barely known him for a day and I feel like I already know everything about him."

"Really?"

"Stoic, cold, good at hide and seek."

"An accurate description" Kurama chuckled "But don't judge him too harshly, it takes a great deal of self control to agree to look after someone who has injured you."

Kiyoko looked away, her smile dissipating instantly. "I wish everyone would stop bringing that up." She murmured, and Kurama swore he could smell rain "I didn't mean to hurt him."

"Forgive me." He said pleasantly, squeezing her hand that was still daftly grasped to his arm "I know you didn't mean to."

She trailed off for a moment, before continuing "Will he be alright? Being at a shrine like this?"

Kurama was struck by the concern in her voice. "He'll most likely keep an eye on you from a distance, but he was probably going to do that anyway."

"Oh" this seemed to make her feel better, but she still looked slightly crestfallen "He doesn't like me."

"Not really, no" Kurama admitted, figuring it would be best for all of them in the long run if he were honest, and didn't get the girl s hopes up. "But he doesn't really like humans in general."

"What about all of you?"

"We are the exception" he explained, "and in all honesty, it s not much of an exception at all. Following Koenma's orders is part of his parole, and more often than not, following those orders means he works with us. Yusuke, in fact, was the one who arrested him in the first place." Kiyoko didn t really want to imagine exactly what the smaller youkai could have done to warrant such harsh parole, so she decided to let it go. She'd most likely find out sooner or later from someone who couldn t help but gossip. Maybe she would ask Yusuke...

"I'm really happy to be going home" she said, changing the subject.

He nodded in understanding "I should hope so. It must have been terrifying being kidnapped like you were."

"It was at first." She admitted, casting her eyes off to the side. "It was sort of like finding out there the monster under your bed was actually there. And then that foul smelling demon world, or whatever it's called, I was glad they stopped giving me food, I would have just thrown it up again."

"They didn't feed you?" He asked, alarmed.

"They did at first, but when I wasn't eating, one them tried to force me to, and he sort of...um...well let's just say Hiei was lucky compared to him."

Kurama raised a brow at the ease she had in recalling the last few days. It was as if it hadn t bothered her at all; like she had gone on nothing more than a bad camping trip.

"But after the first day, I knew everythingw as going to turn out ok."

"You knew?"

She looked right at him then, those sky blue eyes pinning him, as if she were looking into his very soul. A vulnerable, uncomfortable feeling took hold of him, but he couldn't look away "I've always had a sort of unwavering optomism, ever since I was a little girl waiting for my parents to come get me. I always try to think things will work out, and for one reason or another, they always seem to."

Kurama was humbled in the face of such innocence, and wondered how this girl had survived so long as she had with such a fairytale-like view of the world.

"I know it's sounds a little silly, but I really glad that Hiei was the one to save me."

"Glad?" Kurama asked.

"Er..." she trailed, those soul searching eyes darting away, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink "Well, if it had been a human, they probably would have died, right?"

She released him then, going on up the stairs a bit faster, leaving him behind. It s not that much further she called.

* * *

It was just over a week after Kiyoko had returned home, and everything seemed to be going rather swimmingly. Kiyoko was ever cooperative, never hesitating to allow her guardians to follow her everywhere she went. Even better, was that her grandparents didn t mind either. They seemed to enjoy the extra company. Kiyoko's grandfather, Ujihiro, had taken a shining to Yusuke, having been a ruffian himself in his younger years. He even taught the detective a few of his moves, which Yusuke 'learned' simply to humor the old man. Hanako, Kiyoko's grandmother, took an instant liking to Kurama, as she not only thought he was handsome, but seemed to find a soul mate in the garden.

Kuwabara had resigned himself to becoming popular with Kiyoko herself, always following her about, sometimes when it wasn't even his shift. She was likable, and pretty, and it was nice to have a girl around that reminded him so much of Yukina.

Hiei, of course, remained at a healthy distance, during the day and night. He had nothing better to do with his time, considering he was chained to the Ningenkai until hell froze over, so he spent his free time picking up the slack with the other's were distracted. Twice, he had disposed of lesser youkai when Kurama was distracted by the doting old woman who baked for him, and chatted endlessly with him about plants.

Yusuke, when the baka was around, never ceased to playfully flirt with her, always making her flush, when he wasn't making her laugh. It always left the smaller hiyoukai flustered on some subcouncious level that the detective would so ready flaunt himself before her like an ape, when he so clearly had a mate of his own. Disgusting.

The oaf, Kuwabara, was no different, though Hiei did hate him a fraction less for remaining so stead fastly true to his younger sister. Not that the ningen was any good for her anyway, but it was something of a miricle to view such loyalty, even if he was at the onna's every beck and call like a dog.

It had become clear to him a few days into the shifts that he was only one doing any real work.

As for Koenma, he couldn t have been more overjoyed. Things had been going so smoothly, he had taken the free time and used it in surprisingly productive ways. Though he was delighted that they all seemed to be getting along decently, he still had a nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept his mood down even when he was supposed to be happy. Kiyoko was certainly talented when it came to purifying, and as he discovered when Kuwabara had hurt himself, healing. But without the ability to control it, it was barely conceivable that she could possibly be a Tenshi. Though the more he looked into her, the more he started to believe that perhaps his father was right in his assumptions.

In the short time he had to gather information, he had learned much. For instance, her parents had been spiritually aware, much like Kuwabara was. They had sensed in Kiyoko the powers she now possessed, and probably witnessed them first hand when she too young to realize that using them was strange or frightening to other humans. The result had been Kiyoko being handed off to her grandparents when she was four, her parents promising to come back when the scared place had cured her. Of course, they had never come back, and Kiyoko was now nearly seventeen.

Having such power dormant in you at such a young age was understandable; more humans than expected showed signs of having some sort of hidden potential that they never realized in their life time. But to use said power at such a young age, and having half an idea what it was for (i.e. protection and healing) was another matter entirely.

And it just kept piling up. When she was seven, her school bus had been run off the road during a car chase, and rolled several times. When the paramedics had arrived, they had found all of the passengers arranged in a circle outside the bus, unconscious, but unharmed, and Kiyoko sitting in the center confused and crying. This expressed the potential for force field creation.

At age twelve, she run away from home to search for her parents. The Reikai had used her spirit energy as a tracer, to make sure she was safe, without having to interfere, but after a day or so, she had disappeared completely off the map, her spirit energy complete hidden, as if she had died. This showed an ability to erect spirit barriers.

And even now, as he monitored her through the screen in his office, he started to piece together the puzzle that was Kiyoko.

The plants near and around the shrine seemed a bit livelier than anywhere else in the city. Kiyoko gave credit of this to her grandmother, who sang to them every morning a chant that she claimed had magical abilities, though Koenma knew it was just a load of gibberish. He had discovered, after watching the many times that Kiyoko went to and from the shrine, that the plants seemed to cycle.

When she was there, they were bright, green and vibrant with life, and when she was gone, they wilted slightly, dull, and lacking. It was a surprise, but it made sense that they were affected by her aura just as everyone else seemed to be.

Which brought him to the next observation. Kiyoko was a social butterfly. That was the easiest way to explain it, though she seemed much, much more. Everywhere she went, she greeted people. People she knew, people she had only just met, but most of the time people she didn t even know. It was both endearing in its innocence, but absurdly dangerous for someone in her current situation. She would simply talk to anyone, without hesitation, and without fear. But what was even more absurd was that they talked back.

Example. A few days after the shifts had started, Kuwabara had taken her for a stroll downtown, offering to buy her anything she wanted, which she thanked him for, but graciously rejected. They had run into some of Kuwabara s street enemies; kids from other schools who were none too pleased that the orange hair boy was on their turf. When Kuwabara had been ready to smear their heads across the concrete, Kiyoko had interjected, pleasantly asking the boys who had threatened her guardian to please continue on their way.

AND THEY HAD.

With pleasant smiles, and waves, and promises to see her again sometime, they had left without so much a drop of blood shed.

If he hadn't seen it for himself, Koenma would never have believed it possible. But the tension in that had crackled in the air around the warring boys had dissipated when she had stepped forward with that ever present gentle smile that melted your heart the second she pinned you with it.

But by far the most interesting discovery he made, was the weather. The weather in the immediate area around her was always bright and clear. It was normal, since it was the middle of summer and the sky was always abnormally bright and clear, but he had noticed a pattern over the few days he had been watching her.

Whenever she wans't happy, the sky would always darken, if she cried, it would start to rain, and on the off chance that she was actually angry, lightly would crack the sky in two. He doubted that she controled the weather directly, only elemental masters could do such things, and only one at a time in any case, but it seemed as if the weather reacted to her aura just as the flora and fawna seemed to, that or it was a huge, inconceivable coincidence.

Whatever the reasoning behind these events, Koenma was steadily becoming more convinced that his father's initial thoughts about her were indeed correct. This was all well and good, but it left him with one very large puzzle piece missing from the picture. Why was she here? Since Hiei had brought her back, there was no activity. None, zero, zip, nada. There were no demons threatening domination over the human race, there were no black market men capturing and enslaving anyone, there were no enraged spirits trying to possess innocent people in attempt to retaliate against their sentencing. There was absolutely nothing!

"Maybe that's something in itself, sir?" George commented one day about two weeks after Kiyoko had returned home. "There is nothing, which is pretty unusual, because there s always something. So, maybe, nothing means something?"

It took Koenma a moment to processes all of that, but he understood what the ogre was getting at. Nothing was unusual for the Reikai, and nothing probably meant that later there would be a lot of really bad something. Like the calm before a storm.


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone! I'm so glad that so many people out there are enjoying this story! I had no idea that it would be recieved this well. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for reading, especially those who reviewed, you guys are awesome! You have no idea how big my smile was when I read the first review.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a head's up to anyone who senstive to angst/hurt/violence/gore because from here on out, there's going to be a bit of it. This chapter isn't so bad, but like I said, I'm just giving fair warning.

Also, I haven't really figured out how to accuratly discribe the way he looks yet, but the man in this chapter is a Naga-a being with the upper body of a man, and lower body of a snake.

enjoy the chapter! :D

* * *

Part 5: Villain

**_She was a vision of beauty, all the way to the end when she stood before King Enma to receive punishment for a crime that should never have been a crime. Enma had been broken up about it, begging her to reveal who it was that had tainted her, so pass the punishment to them so she could remain. She was too pure to be going where she was going, too innocent, to gentle. But she was a Tenshi, an angel, and savior; she could never wish death upon anyone. So she had smiled, and told the great king that she would take the punishment because she would rather die than give up the man she loved to be killed in her stead._**

**_The king, bereft as he was, did not stop her. Did not tell her that perhaps the rule was outdate, did not tell her that it was alright to fall in love with anyone she chose, because he was Enma, ruler of the Reikai, and he did not change the law for anyone, even if it meant someone so pure, and good as she would spend eternity in limbo._**

**_Not being completely without mercy, he had given her a day to set her affairs in order. A day that he would possibly regret in the years to come as he laid awake thinking that perhaps he had been wrong, and perhaps it would come back to bite him. But there had been only pleading in her eyes, and in those days he was a weaker man._**

**_He had figured that perhaps she would run, attempt to prolong her life, but it was the very next morning that she stood before them again, in her best kimono, ebony hair styled just so to make his old heart ache. She was ready to die But her lover was not so understanding._**

**_The moment Enma had been stealing himself to call forth her soul, an orge burst into his office, the alarm he was attempting to sound dying in his throat as a clawed hand burst through his chest in a spray of blood and flesh._**

**_There he stood, poised for battle, long snake-like body coiled behind him, human arms tense at his side with claws that dripped with blood of innocence. There where the whites of the eyes would have been, it was a startling onyx a trait most reptiles possessed, but the inner iris, usually a pleasant honey yellow, crackled a firey red as he looked upon the king with the venomous glare of a man who was ready to die in battle._**

**_This youkai; this naga, was ready to fight him for her, ready to die for her, and Enma knew at once that this was the man she was trying to save. But before he could attack, before either of them could spring to action, she had come forward between them. Never had Enma seen such sadness in her pretty eyes, never he felt such sorrow in her aura, but it choked him in it s intensity now._**

**_She moved to the coiled youkai, who immediately lowered himself to her height, his aggression extinguishing like a capped flame. She lay a gentle hand across his cheek, sweeping fingers delicately across the pale grey skin, then softly brushing raven bangs from his eyes._**

**_Masao Her gentle tone, coupled with the sadness in her eyes smothered every drop of anger in him. You shouldn t be here._**

Honey yellow eyes snapped open, a hand, adorned with dagger-like, onyx claws moved to scrub away wetness from his cheek, a deep growl escaping a delicate throat. Anger radiated from him, filling the dark, elegant room with cold.

It had been years since he had dreamed, longer still since this particular vision had crossed paths with his mind s eyes. _Masao _his former name rang resolutely though his head. Just, and righteous; that was what that name had meant. _She _had given him that name when his true name could only be spoken in his common tongue a language no human could hope to learn. So, when she had met him, without any prior knowledge of his person, and without hesitation that he would find it offensive to his nature, she had bequeathed him, Masao.

In those days, when he was foolish enough to think that a pair such as they would be able to live in peace together, he had been just that; just and righteous, if only for her sake. She had been the purest being he had ever known to exist; kind, gentle, and selfless. There had been times throughout his life with her, where the thought of his not being good enough for her ran across his mind, giving him pause to consider the rarity that was them.

Before them, he had not heard of a human mating with demon, and in some subconscious, sixth sense sort of a way, he had known that there was a reason for that. But he had been too blinded by love for her to care for such trivialities because when one is in love, everything else loses its importance.

He had been a fool.

When he had learned that she was a Tenshi, he discovered just how much of a fool. Her pureness of being, her gentle, infections happiness, it all added up before him, stark and obvious hints to the truth that had eluded him, and though he wanted with all his heart and soul to cast her away, knowing that such forbidden fruit would cost them dearly in the end, he couldn t.

She had effectively become a part of him, so as to cast her away, would mean casting away a part of himself; a vital, life giving part of himself that would kill him to lose. The night she had given herself to him, he should have sent her away, for merely loving her was crime enough, but the physical embodiment of that love shared between them would be their undoing. But he could never say no to her; her who had given his old soul a spark of youth, her who had dared to love the monster that he was, her who so confidently spoke of him as a man, not demon or devil, her who named him Masao.

So he had lain with her. Made love to her, brought her to the knife s edge of paradise, and fell over it with her, because he was weak, because he loved her more than life itself.

The valiant King Enma took her then, to punish her for her sin. When he had questioned her, she hadn t denied it, but of course she wouldn t. She would never deny loving someone, because it didn t matter to her that she was a Tenshi and he was a demon, because love transcended it all, and shame on him if he couldn t understand that.

When the mighty king had begged his beloved Tenshi to reveal the name of the beast her had tainted her, she had simply smiled and shook her head. It was she who had wished it of him, who had begged him until he couldn t resist, and it was she who would pay for it in the end, because she was a Tenshi and could never wish death upon anyone.

The wetness came down his cheeks again, but this time he did not scrub it away. Oh, how he would have delighted in destroying that bastard of a god, how he longed for the feel of his flesh ripping beneath his claws, his blood staining his skin, his cries for mercy as his venom slowly invaded his blood stream, paralyzing him by inches at a time. It had never come to be, fore when he had stormed the castle of the Reikai to retrieve his mate from the grips of her executioner, she had stopped him.

He had never before, or since, felt such sorrow from another being as he had that day from her. She had made him promise to leave, promise to never return for any fool notions of vengeance, because after all, they had known how this story would end.

So he had left, because he could never say no to her, and he had felt her slip away when Enma had done his vile deed, felt a part of his own soul leave with her. She was a vital part of his being, and to leave would kill him...

He wasn't so sure that it hadn't, as he lounged amongst his fine silk pillows, his tail uncoiling slowly in his efforts to right himself and move. He had been young and foolish, but when he had left that castle, something within him changed. Something dark, and menacing took hold of him, brewing deep within him, lending him strength enough to build the empire he called home today. An empire of loyal meaningless, disposable minions who would gladly give their lives for him, and they did. They were nothing to him, everything save for his goal, was nothing to him.

His goal being the fitting, beautifully gruesome death of the Lord Enma, and his blathering son and the rescue of his beloved from the punishment that she had not disserved. How he longed for his thirst for vengeance to be quenched, how he longed to feel Enma's blood on his claws, how he ached for the soft skin of his lover's lips. And he would have them again, if he had to kill every fool between himself an Enma to do so, he would have them again.

"Megumi, my love" he whispered into the darkness, his voice low and menecing, "I'm coming."


	6. Chapter 6

Hello again eveyone! Just your friendly warning that this chapter contains a little bit of darkness/gore/hinted nudity. It's not horrible, but if you are squeamsh about those sorts of things, I'm just giving you a fair heads up.

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Part 6: Vile

**_Every sound in the immediate area-what should have been grunts, and yowls, and splintering bones-was muted by the blood that pumped insistently, and loudly in her ears._**

**_Blood. There was so much blood. The coppery smell was so thick in the air that she could almost taste it. Her stomach heaved violently at the all-pervading stench of decay and ash that crawled through her nose, clogging her lungs. She couldn't breathe; except she was breathing, because the stench intensified with each horrible inhalation. Each slip of air curled inside her, choking and insidious. It was in her hair and clothes, seeping into her very skin like poison, burning, and relentless. The air was so thick it was almost sticky, coating her with its corruption._**

**_She was moving forward now, for whatever reason, deeper into the fog of death. Behind her, above the ringing in her ears, she could hear someone shouting, but it seemed like they were miles away. Beneath her feet the ground was slick with thick, crimson puddles, and she felt bile raise in her throat as a new wave of rot was blow in on the wind._**

**_Every instinct in her body, told her to turn tail, and run like she never run before, but it seemed that her legs and her mind were on two separate circuits, for her feet kept moving her forward, toward a dark mass of something near the center of the battlefield._**

**_All around her, youkai of all shapes, and sizes were ripping each other apart in a spray of blood and limbs, but she never flinched away from them, never paused to turned terrified eyes upon them, never waited for someone to rescue, not because she couldn't, but somewhere deep inside she felt the desolate, and unfamiliar weight of hopelessness and despair._**

**_Then she saw him, his long snake-like body coiled among a mountain of silk pillows. He lounged there, in the middle of all of this chaos, a foreign being among it, but somehow fitting in at the same time. In one slender, but incredibly dangerous looking hand, clawed with long, needle like black claws, was a kiseru, billowing smoke at an impossible rate, steadily surrounding his head with smog. Because of the haze, she could not make out his face, but she could feel his eyes on her, burning into her like red hot pokers on her skin._**

**_Then above it all, the blood, the battle, the smoke, the chaos, she heard him speak, his fair tenor escaping his lips in a hiss she-imagined a forked tongue darting passed venomous fangs-lost in something that she could only describe as boredom, though she instinctually knew that it was something far deeper than that; something darker._**

**_"Megumi"_**

Kiyoko sat bolt up in her bed, drenched in a cold sweat, as a startled gasp escaped her throat. Blind, terrified eyes darted quickly around the room, as her mind drew a temporary blank to where she was. With a shuddering breath, her vision began to clear and she sighed with relief as she realized she was in her own bed, all of the horror she had witnessed only moments before having been a dream.

_But it felt so real_ she thought, pushing the blankets back so she could get up. The air in her room was seemed far to thick, and she could still vaguely smell the stench that invaded her dream, so on shaky legs, she drifted to the window, unlatched the lock, and threw it open a bit more forcefully that than was probably necessary.

She greedily drank in the freshness of the cool summer air, reveling in its 'rot-free' brilliance, eyes closed in bliss. After a moment, she stepped away from the sill, and hurriedly threw off her soaked night shirt. The cool air on her bare skin made her shiver, it soothed her tension filled body. Her flesh still crawled from the sticky air of her dream, and she took a moment to scan herself over as she stripped down to naught but her underwear, making double sure there was nothing on her person that would indicate that her dream had been anything but a dream. With a relieved sigh, she hugged herself, rubbing still trembling hands over her shoulders and forearms. She had never had a dream leave her so shaken. It was true, that the battle field had been disturbing, and simply thinking about the smell brought make memories from her not so pleasant time in the Maikai, but what truly terrified her was the demon in the silk pillows.

She remembered curiosity beneath her fear in the dream, when she hadn t been able to make out his face behind the smoke from his pipe, but now that she was awake, she felt insanely relieved that she hadn't. His body would be enough to keep her awake for a few nights, the way its serpentine coils splayed lazily about the pillows, eerily calm in the face of such chaos. The blade like claws that had held the kiseru firmly in place between his fingers made her shiver. It would definitely be enough to keep her awake for several nights to come. She couldn t even imagine what terrifying sort of eyes he must have had, to leave her with the feeling that he was still watching her, even now.

And that was part of the reason she was still so shaken. It had seemed as if he had been conscious of her being there, watching him, approaching him. Where all of the other demons had been oblivious to her, even though she had been so near to them, he had stared directly at her, or so she had thought. It unnerved her to no end, and made her skin crawl all over again.

With a deep intake of breath, followed by a long exhale, Kiyoko dropped her hands to her sides, and moved toward her bathroom door. A warm shower was exactly what she needed to wash the creepy-crawly feeling off her skin, and calm her frazzled mind.

* * *

He should never have gone up to the shrine, that was his first thought as he watched her turn around in slow motion, feeling almost as if he were not actually in his own skin, but rather an onlooker, watching the scene play out from afar.

It had been the average night looking after Kiyoko, and though he had still refused to go anywhere near the shrine during the day, occasionally in the night, he had taken to wondering up closer to the house, too keep a better eye on her or so he told himself. What he was secretly after, was the feel of her aura.

He surmised that it had been unavoidable; he was just about as resilient to it as the next guy-that was to say not at all. Of course, he had tried in the beginning, having wanted nothing to do with the girl for any reason. When he had realized what her aura was capable of, he had thought that putting enough distance between them would dull its affects, but that had been a gross understatement. It was almost as if it sought him out, hitting home when he least expected it. It was always the same, warm, and peaceful, like sunlight. At first it had alarmed him, the sense of calm it gave him so very different from his usual poised alertness, but he had reluctantly accepted it assessing that it was futile to attempt to avoid it, and leaving wasn t an option if he enjoyed not being in a cell.

Now, to his great humiliation, he found himself in the tree outside her bedroom window almost every night, craving the warmth, and peace it gave him.

And of course it was this embarrassing weakness, that had brought him here tonight as well. He had started at the first signs of her distress, her aura lashing out with a wave of panic so strong that made his own heart race. It had been so intense, that he had almost gone straight through her window to make double sure there wasn't a demon lurking inside, though his rational mind doubted that he would have missed something so obvious being so near.

Poised ready to spring on to the roof, he haulted uite abruptly when the shutters of her window burst open, revealing a deeply distressed vision of the usually bubbly Kiyoko. She gulped down breath after breath as if she had been drowning only moments ago, her face and bared arms glistening with a thin sheen of sweat in the dim light of the moon.

When she had seemed to calm down enough to breath normally, she had withdrawn suddenly back into her room. Knowing that she was no worse for wear should have been enough to ease him back into his comfortable spot back at the trunk of the tree, but something deep within him urged him to the very edge of the branch, just behind the leaves so he was still invisable should she decide to return to the window. The scent that had rolled off her when she had been gasping at the sill was quite distinct in the fact that it smelled like the Maikai...

All mental function ceased the moment the thin cloth of her cotton night shirt had hit the floor.

Hiei blinked once.

Then twice.

Then once more for good measure.

He had seen many a woman in his day. He was not ashamed to admit that in his younger years, after the jagan had been successfully implanted, he had indulged in some questionable recreation as a sort of gift to himself for a job well done. None of of it had meant anything of course, it was all simply to satsify the occational urge, but every female he had 'been associated' with in the past had been youkai, with hard, toned bodies that were obvious signs of their constant struggle for survival. They were strong, sturdy, survivors, just as he himself had been. Yet, appealing as they had been, none of them held a torch to compare with the creature before him now.

It was a very sudden and surprisingly difficult realization to come to terms with, but as he watched her step of the pants she had worn to sleep, not even he couldn deny such an obvious thing.

She was beautiful.

It was no secret among anyone whom Hiei associated himself with, that he admired strength above all else. It would have seemed blasphemy for any of them to see him now, stunned into quiet awe before a simple human girl.

Her waist length raven hair was as straight as an arrow, sliding down her back in a way that made him think of spilled ink. Its opaque color contrasted so heavily with the palness of her skin, that it gave it the appearance of being snow white in darkness of her room. He suspected that it was soft, even silken, and the fleeting thought that he should find out, fluttered across his mind, sending an unpleasant jolt through his chest and lower stomach.

Abruptly, he flew from the branch he had been previously occupying, disappearing into the night without even the faintest flutter of a leaf to give away that he had been there at all.

He never should have gone up to the shrine, was all that he could think as he darted through the darkness of the wooded area across from her house, attempting to place as much distance between she and himself as he possibly could. What sort of fool was he? Too weak to stand not having that damnable aura near him, too weak to see her for what she truly was; a stupid ningen girl who had had the nerve to harm him, who he was now babysitting under direct orders from Koenma. He hated it. She was nothing to him, nothing but a thorn in his side. Witnessing the terror in her unusual colored eyes had not changed that, feeling her panic as if it were his own, had not changed it either. Viewing such a sight as her undressing had been disgusting, nauseating, repulsive not so unbearable.

_NO!_ he screamed mentally, the only sign of his movements to any possible on lookers was a silver flash among the trees _Completely unbearable, horrid, revolting, vile!_ and the list went on as he attempted to convince himself that the tightness in his chest was bile being choked down.

He hated being here.

He hated babysitting.

He. Hated. Her.

* * *

I just wanted to apologize for any ooc-ness for Hiei. My understanding of his character is that he admires things that are strong, but even so cannot deny that some things-strength aside-are beautiful. Though, I think it would be hard for him to admit this, since his whole presona is pretty much based on 'the strong live, and weak die' sort of deal. But maybe his subconcious is trying to tell him that maybe Kiyoko isn't just some human weakling. Maybe? who knows.

The next chapter might take a little longer than the rest have to be posted, I apologize.


	7. Chapter 7

OK, so I did my best with this chapter. I still don't like it all that much, so I might take it down later and redo it. I had hoped that maybe a few people ahd taken a gander at my poll, so I could get some sort of idea what evreyone wanted to read, and maybe intigrate it in, but that didn't happen, so...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it :D

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Part 7: Insomnia.

In the days that followed her most unsettling dream, Kiyoko found herself growing slightly more curious about the shrouded snake-like man in her dream, and though the curiosity could not quell the fear that she still felt when she thought about him, it did keep her awake. In the sleepless nights that stretched out before her, she had taken to lying awake and letting her mind drift back to him, finding that while she was awake, he seemed much less intimidating.

Question after question flitted through her mind at rapid speeds, sometimes making her head hurt in with the intensity in which she wanted them answered. First and foremost, she wanted to know what he was. She had never seen a demon like him before—granted that she had seen a grand total two types of demons in her short experience of them actually existing (three of she counted Kurama, though she hadn't actually seen his demon form). Under that, she wanted to know who he was, or if he was even real at all, or just some figment of her traumatized imagination.

And the list went on.

It was on one such sleepless night, around three in the morning that Kiyoko decided it was high time that she got some answers. As of yet, she had told no one about the dream, her fear that she seeing some horrible battle in the feature, or worse, finally going insane, had trumped her curiosity, but now it was the other way around.

Slipping from the warmth of her bed, she retrieved a sweater from her closest, pulled it over her head, and padded over to her window. All those times that she had snuck out of her window in her youth seemed like stepping stones for this moment, as she perched on the sill, hand gripping the frame, and eyes locked onto the thick branch that stuck out just a few feet from her. In her younger years, she had been able to jump to it without a problem, her tiny weight nothing for the branch to hold. But now she hesitated, looking down at herself. Though she wouldn't say she was _heavy_, she certainly didn't way the same as she had at age nine.

But the fire in the back of her mind that demanded answers for the many questions she had gave her the courage to leap from the sill of her window, and tumble through the leaves onto the branch beyond.

* * *

He should have seen her coming, but his mind had been else where, distracted the same way it had been distracted since that night in the not so distance past. It had been a devious little platonic thorn in his side since he had felt it's first stings, and now it's claws were embedded so deeply in his mind, that no amount of meditation could send it away—he had tried.

So it was, with such distraction, that Hiei found himself the target of an assault. Not your typical, '_demnon-attacking-you-so-your-sword-will-suffice-as-defense'_, sort of assault, but the 'human-girl-vaulting-from-her-window-and-into-your-personal-space', sort of assault.

Had he not been so thoroughly distracted, he might have been able to simply catch her, and balance her on the branch long enough to find out exactly what the _hell _was going on, but unfortunately for the both of them, this was not the case, and they both went tumbling off the branch.

Luckily, such an experience clears the mind rather quickly, and Hiei had just enough reaction time to grasp onto the perch he had just be detached from, as well as catch the perpetrator responsible for the whole mess by the wrist, before she fell to her possible death.

After a moment to adjust to his new position, Hiei swung the girl up until she caught on that she was suppose to grasp the branch to hold herself up. Once this was established, and she was fully latched onto the thing for dear life, Hiei wasted no time in hauling himself back into a the sitting position. Balancing himself expertly, he helped her climb atop the same perch, where she promptly clung to him instead of the branch.

Too stunned that she would be so bold—and not at all because when she clung to him, his chest tightened uncomfortably—he allowed it.

Yet, after a moment, as if remembering himself, he gripped her shoulders, and wrenched her away from him, holding at arm's length.

"What the hell are you doing, onna?" he hissed.

"Hiei?"

Belatedly, he realized that she was staring at him with blind eyes. Had she not known that he was him? Why the hell had she clung to him so readily? For all she had known, he was a demon out for her blood!

"Baka, onna!" he snapped, "of course it's me!"

"What are you doing o close to the shrine?" she inquired, "I thought you didn't want to be near it."

He tactfully avoided the question with one of his own "I believe it's far more imperative that you tell me why hurdling yourself out of your window seemed like a good idea."

"I wasn't hurdling myself anywhere!" she protested, shaking free from his grip "I was sneaking out."

Hiei raised a brow at her "Sneaking is hardly the word I would use. More like, blundering out into the night with enough noise to wake the dead."

She made a face at him, to which he merely sneered at, before she began the arduous task of lowering herself to the next branch.

Hiei watched her with a scowl on his face "Where do you think you're going?"

Reaching for the branch below with an outstretched foot, and still almost completely blind in the pitch black around her, she glanced up at him—or more appropriately, where she thought he would be—her narrow brows pulled together in a look of exasperation. "I told you, I'm sneaking ou—AHH!"

Before she could finish her sentence, her foot slipped from the branch she was attempting to balance on, and met empty space. Yet, before she could fall, a strong hand gripped her wrist once again, and held her, hanging in mid air like a wriggling fish on a hook.

"Baka, ningen" Though she could not see him, she could practically feel his eyes roll. "You can't see two inches in front of you face, and think you'll be able to navigate down this tree without killing yourself?"

"I'll be fine!" she hissed back, unable to keep the trembling out of her voice, as her other hand came up to clamp onto his like a life line.

He let out an annoyed sigh before he hauled her back onto the branch he was currently occupying.

"Why'd you go and do that!" she whined once she realized that she was back to square one. "You could have at least put me on the one I was _trying _to get to."

He tried not to find the fact that her back was to him, but she still speaking to him as if she were facing him, amusing, but he couldn't help the slight twitch in the corner of his mouth, and was only glad for the pitch blackness that kept her blind to such cracks in his façade. When he noticed her attempting to slide down the branch again, he firmly planted an arm around her abdomen, just under her breasts, securely tucking her against him in an altogether too intimate sort of way that made him feel slightly nauseous—or that is the name he gave to the uncomfortable flutter in his stomach.

At first, she didn't protest, to which he gathered that she had been too startled by the sudden change to react. This theory was confirmed when, moments later, she tried to shove herself off of him. After she caught him surprisingly hard in the chest with her flanging elbow, he gripped her slender arms in his hands, and held them down a bit too forcefully.

"Stop your wriggling, baka!" he hissed. "or you'll send us both tumbling to our deaths!."

This, of course, was a lie. He was far too fast, far too agile to allow such a thing to happen, but it seemed to be enough to make her pause. Though she didn't relax against him, she had ceased her struggling, and that was all he had really wanted to accomplish. After a moment, he released her arms.

"Sorry" she murmured.

"Save your apologies." He replied, without hostility "Just tell me why you were attempting to fly."

"I wasn't!" Kiyoko hissed back, crossing her arms in a huff. "For the last time, I was—"

"Sneaking out" He finished for her "Yes, I know. Why did you feel so inclined to use the window? The front door would have sufficed."

"This has always been how I stuck out." She replied proudly, glancing over her shoulder in his general direction "I used to do it all the time."

"And you're still alive?"

"There were never any demon's in the way then!"

He sneered at this. "In the way am I? I could have let you fall, you know. I didn't have to save you." He paused for a moment before adding "_again."_

She blushed slightly "Thanks for that." She took a deep breath before beginning her explanation "I was going to go to the library."

"The library" he repeated dryly.

"Yes. You know, the place with the books, and knowledge, and stuff?" she replied, "I wanted to look something up."

He ignored her explanation of a library "And this couldn't wait until morning because…?"

Kiyoko shifted uncomfortably on the branch, and as she did, he felt a familiar prickling sensation along his arms, which he realized belatedly had settled around her waist. With a swift movement, his hands retreated from her, and into the pockets of his cloak.

"It could have, I suppose…" she trailed off for a moment, before continuing "But I couldn't sleep anyway, and I wanted to figure out what this guy was and why he was in my dreams."

Hiei raised a brow "Far be it for me to question the men in your dreams." He hissed coolly.

If Kiyoko hadn't known better, she might have thought she had detected a note of jealousy in his voice, but she brushed it off as his normal hostility.

"It's not like that!" she quickly amended, shifting on the branch so she could look over her shoulder at him, "He's completely terrifying! Half human, and half snake, with black claws the size of small daggers! And he's always in the middle of some weird demon massacre. There's blood everywhere, and…and…" she found herself growing slight hysterical as she thought about it, fear seeping into her words at the mere thought of him. "The smell!"

This caught Hiei's attention "The smell?"

"The dream is all dream-like, untill the smell hits me, and then it just feels so real!"

"What does it smell like?"

"Death."

That one word hung in the air between them, and though she could not see him in the pitch black of the night, he could see her just as clearly as if it were day, and she was trembling.

"It truly scared you this much?" he murmured, and watched her carefully as she nodded slowly. After a moment, he continued "If I ask Koenma about this snake-human hybrid will you never assault me in a tree again?"

This made her laugh, and he felt his heart swell at the sound. She nodded, still giggling at his request. "I promise never to assault you in a tree again."

"I'm holding you to that" With a flash too quick to see, Kiyoko was standing in her room again, staring at Hiei, who was crouched on the sill, ready to spring out.

"Hiei, wait!" she laid a hand to his shoulder to halt him, and felt him tense beneath her touch "Thank you."

"Tch, don't get used to it. Simply because I chose to save you doesn't make us friends."

And then he was gone, a simple flash of silver in the darkness. Kiyoko's hand was still raised to where it had been on his shoulder, and she felt the slightest warmth spread through her chest. He had _chosen_ to save her. She felt the smile creep onto her face before she could stop it. Choosing was a very large step up from being ordered.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey Everyone. Hope your enjoying things so far! Forgive the slow progression, but I promise in the next few chapters, it will pick up!

As per usual, the only warning I have for this chapter, is a bit of gore in Kiyoko's dreams again. Nothing too bad, at least I think, but if you sensitive to gory things, you might want to avoid it.

As always, Enjoy (and please R&R, because I love hearing what y'all have yo say! :D)

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Part 8: Contact.

King Enma stood silently out on the balcony that jutted out from his office, a tiny paper report crushed in his massive hand. His son had been a fool to doubt him, he should have had the girl trained immediately, but he had fallen for her charm, and her innocence. They all had.

He was no fool; of course he had known she was a Tenshi. It only a tore at his old heart even more when she had looked so like her ancestor. Raven hair, bright sapphire eyes, pleasant infectious smile. His fist clenched around the paper tighter, his nails digging into his palms.

All he could see before him was a repeat in history, and it killed him inside.

His dear little angel, his beloved Megumi, standing before him so peaceful, and ready to die. She had been like a daughter to him, so young, and oh so innocent to the darkness of the world. Back then, demons had lived freely in the human world, and most of them brought only chaos. Yet, Megumi hadn't seen that, hadn't seen demons as beasts to be put down, but merely as a different kind of people.

When she had first met that bastard naga, he had known that there would be trouble. His human face was only a façade, a mask to cover the animal that lay beneath, and she had believed it. She had befriended him, named him, and eventually, loved him.

Of course, he had been ignorant of _that_ at the time, they had been remarkably good at hiding it. If the bastard hadn't been carless about the marks he left on her body, he might never have known that she had been tainted.

Tenshi were pure beings, angels in the sense that they were not to be touched by youkai. Youkai were impure beasts, their taint destroying everything it touched. A Tenshi needed it's purity to fulfill its purpose, and the slightest slip would taint them wholly.

At the time, he hadn't known it was the naga, if he had he would have gladly taken him over her. But she never revealed who it was, which in turn, had forced his hand.

It had destroyed him to send her soul to limbo. It's delicate, ethereal glow too bright for such piercing darkness, but he had had no choice. The law as the law. He made no exceptions.

So as it was now, as he unclenched his fist, and straightened out the small piece of paper so he could read it again, that he felt that old guilt weigh so heavily on him now. He had known that he would regret it one day, sending her away, and now that day had come.

There was a storm brewing in the deep bowls of the Maikai, a dangerous cloud that reeked of revenge. Enma knew that bitter stench well, remembered it from when the naga had stormed the castle in attempt to take back the girl. It had rolled off of him in thick waves, so strong that the great god himself had almost felt fear. His whispered promise to Megumi to steer clear of vengeance had obviously been a lie.

Now staring at the report, mind heavy with memories from a time that seemed not so long ago, he summoned his son. This was why she had appeared, this was why she needed to be trained.

Without her, there would be no stopping the beast from destroying everything he touched.

* * *

The dreams seemed to get worse over the next few days; darker, bloodier, and more real than Kiyoko had ever thought possible. So real in fact, that it seemed that the warring demons had all become aware of her presence in the dream, as if a veil had been lifted, and she was no longer invisible to them. Mostly, they still fought with one another, but if she ventured in too close to them, they would lash out at her, hostel, and feral as wild beasts.

To her relief, she woke whenever this occurred, startled out of the dream by some basic instinct within her that alerted her body to the danger; much in the same way falling would arouse one from a dream. Once, she had woken to find red welts on her arm; in the same place where moments before in her dream, a demon had taken a deadly swipe at her. She had convinced herself that they were marks created by her own nails, worrying her skin in the night while she thrashed about.

Yet, they burned so unnaturally, and did not fade as normal welts did, within a few hours, but sometimes took days. Of course, she never told anyone, having had convinced herself that it was nothing to worry about, and if it seemed strange to them when she wore long sweaters in the middle of the summer, they never spoke a word of it.

As the nights progressed, the instinct that brought her out of such dreams seemed to dull. Where it had once taken only a demon to look like it would attack to wake her, she now had to endure the maiming of several before she found herself jolting awake, the red welts showing up in various places on her body, and burning as if someone had laid a red hot poker across her skin.

Yet, she still did not utter a word to her guardians, feelings as if they worried for her enough. They were just dreams after all, and the 'self harm' that showed afterward was simply an attempt by her own body to wake her from them, or so she so convincingly told herself.

On a rainy summer night, not so far in the feature, Kiyoko found herself walking through same bloody battle field, the stench of rotting flesh, and sticky copper making her stomach do an array of different, and very dangerous acrobatic stunts. Though the stench wafted into her lungs almost every night now, its intensity was no less daunting, and every step she took was a battle against her natural instinct to turn and vomit.

The demons seemed distant this time, though she could still feel their consciousness of her, feel their hostility toward the foreign being that was intruding on their battles, but they remained locked in heated combat. As always, she was meandering her way around the corpse filled ground, toward the ominous figure among the silken pillows that seemed far more out of place than she.

The smoke had long since cleared, and several times she had seen those eyes that she had been so afraid of the first night, and had been surprised to find them not quite so terrifying as she he had first thought. Twin pools of molten gold lost in polished onyx, and would have been breath taking if she hadn't been so stricken by the complete, and unabashed despair that was reflected in them.

It seemed that her goal had shifted in the dream, now that she had seen his eyes, she now wanted to reach him, and do, anything, do whip the sorrow from those gorgeous orbs. So many times she had come so close to him, within a few feet before a territorial demon would send her spiraling out of the dream world, and back into her own skin still comfortably snuggled under the lavender comforter in her room.

This time, she could have touched him, and because he had been aware of her all along, his eyes never left her, always fixed to her every movement, while at the same time never giving any hint away to his thoughts—other than, of course, the sadness.

She reached for him…

And his stone face suddenly darkened, and his eyes became alive with something other than sorrow, and brightened with something like realization, and she got the distinct impression that he had mistook her for someone else until that very moment.

She froze; a sudden prickling sensation crawling up her spine, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. The part of her that had never stopped fearing the inky black shadows in the corners of her room, the part that had listened to the howls of predators in the time before history, sank it's teeth into her nerves. _Run_ it whispered to her _Run!_

And she tried, but the ground was slick with blood and other bodily fluids, and the air was too thick to breathe properly, and her own survival instinct had her in a frenzied panic even before she had even turned to move.

She slipped.

It took only a moment to fall, but it felt like an eternity. Reflexively, her arms flew out in front of her, to catch the ground before she hit; which might have been alright, but there was the distinct outline of what might have once been a demon lying just there—where had it come from, she wondered briefly, because surly she would have noticed it before—lips pecked away by birds, infested with thousands of tiny, wriggling maggots, eyeless, and rancid in the heat of the blistering sun.

Damn those reflexive, earth groping hands, as they sliced through the air toward the corpse, hitting the skin of its abdomen, and falling straight _through._

* * *

Hiei felt his chest tighten with something that felt remarkably like panic when the blood curdling scream ripped through the silence of the night. He was in her room in an instant, having been stationed just outside in the tree as per usual.

She was sitting up straight in her bed, eyes wide, and blind, mouth still agape in a post-shriek sort of way. When he landed lightly squarely in the middle of her room, her head whipped to the side, eyes pinning him with a look so filled with terror that he might have looked behind him to see if it were truly he she was staring at, had she not let out another scream that could have woken the dead.

His hand shot out to cover her mouth, muffling the sound, his other hand gripping her shoulder, pressing her back against the head board a bit too roughly.

"Shut up! Baka onna!" he hissed through the dark to her "It's me!"

Those fearful blue orbs focused on him then, recognizing him through the darkness, and then all at once she tackled him, sending them both tumbling unexpectedly to the floor. That would be the second time he had been too distracted by her to keep them upright.

But he couldn't think about that now because she was sprawled across the floor between his bent knees, head buried in his stomach, arms locked tightly around his waist as if he were her only anchor in a stormy sea, and she was sobbing.

The sobs wracked through her, sending tremors through her body, and ripping through her lips only to be muffled by the fabric of his cloak. Outside it began to down pour.

"Onna." Hiei hissed through the darkness, his voice gentle despite himself, but when she didn't respond, he bent further toward her, and whispered her name.

She still did not respond; if anything she held him tighter. After a moment, he glanced around the room, making double sure no one was around to witness such weakness from him, before he shifted his weight to lean back on one hand, while the other came up to rest awkwardly on her shoulder.

He knew as much of comforting distressed females, as he did of hugs or puppies, and cared for it even less, but he was metaphorically cornered. Koenma's orders might not have included emotional support, but Hiei found himself wary of sitting through one of the brat's lectures if the girl went running to him. So he grit his teeth, and spoke in a hiss that made it sound almost like he were in physical pain.

"It's alright" he told her, awkwardly patting her shoulder. "It was just a dream."

The hand that had patted her shoulder moved to stroke over her hair, and down her back unconsciously, and for a moment he allowed himself to not mind the fact that she was practically sitting in his lap. If he were completely honest with himself—something that he tended to do less and less when it came to matters concerning Kiyoko because the more honest he became, the more evident it was that she was growing on him—he would say that he almost enjoyed it.

When her sobs became fewer and farther between, and her shoulders ceased to quake, and her hands unclenched from their place somewhere near the small of his back, he allowed her a moment more of contact, before he sat himself up into a full sitting position, and pushed her away.

He cleared his throat, before speaking "You should get back to bed." he told her as he stood, running a hand over his cloak absently, smoothing out the wrinkles left by her fists.

She followed his example, standing on shaky legs, but made no reply to his statement.

With the dismissal hanging in the air between them, Hiei felt that the only other option now was to leave, and so he turned toward the window to do just that, but was stopped by the feel her hand on his arm.

"Don't go." She murmured brokenly, and her aura pulsed to life with a wave of despair that robbed him of breath.

After a moment, he half turned to face her, and was reminded again of their awkward height difference as he looked up into her eyes. He had suspected what he would see there, and in his younger years—hell, even just a few months ago—he might have scoffed at such a blatant show of weakness, but it was Kiyoko, and she was the exception to his ridicule. When he had come to _that_ decision, he hadn't the faintest idea.

Her eyes shimmered with the sort of desperation that a child might have when pleading a parent to check under the bed for monsters, and he might have been amused if it weren't so…so what?

He contemplated leaving regardless, knowing full well that she was grown woman, capable of facing her demons—figuratively speaking—on her own. He really, truly wanted to turn away, because he didn't need this; he didn't need to feel connected to her, or responsible for her, or like he _knew_ her and understood her.

"Please." She whispered, as if she sensed his hesitation. He didn't miss the pleading note in her voice.

As if that one word had been the last prod he'd needed, he visibly relaxed, and turned to fully face her. With hands that were far too careful for his taste, he herded her back to the bed, and covered her with the blanket.

"Sleep" he ordered, his indifferent mask slipping easily back into place. When she seemed to panic, he allowed it to fracture momentarily to reassure her that he would be next to the bed, and would not leave, before it fell back into place again.

Once she was settled, he planted himself on the floor, next to her bed, back to the frame.

"Hiei" she murmured, her voice much more like normal for the first time that night "Thank you."

"Hn."

* * *

Somewhere deep in the bowls of the Maikai, a storm was swirling viciously to full life, its only goal; spilling the blood of a god. At the center of the chaos, a serpent laid amongst his silken pillows, just waking from a dream, in which he had been watching a ethereal vision of his former lover glide through a chaotic battle field, unnoticed by it's inhabitants, just as she had so innocently in life, allowed them to go unnoticed.

Only this time, when he woke, his consciousness came with the knowledge that woman in his dreams was not his beloved, but an imposter that shared her face. An imposter, that, when she had wandered too close, brushed his subconscious as if she had been a real being.

This simply would not do. Who was this woman to bare his beloved's face? How dare she impersonate her, mock her, belittle her with her foolish attempt of replication. There was only one Megumi, and he intended to make it so again.


End file.
